How to Stick to your New Year’s Resolutions

The New Year always brings a sense of new beginnings with it. A fresh start. Motivation. A list of new resolutions.

But often those new resolutions fade as the days go by, and by the beginning of February, they’re completely forgotten.

So here are a few tips of how to stick to your New Year’s Resolutions…

1) Only make one or two goals (ideally one) to work on.

When you make a page full of resolutions, you’ll most likely end up overwhelmed and burnt out.

2) Make SMART goals.

When I’m working with my personal training clients, I often encourage them to create goals that align with this acronym:

Specific: Be specific in defining your goal. For example, instead of saying, “I want to get fit this year,” You’d say, “I want to work out four times a week this year.”

Measurable: You need to be able to measure and track your success as you strive to reach your goal. So if your goal is to eat healthier by including veggies at every meal, how are you going to measure/track that? For example, does one spinach leaf on a sandwich count? Or does it have to be 1/2 cup of veggies at each meal?

Attainable:Is your goal reasonably attainable? If it’s something that will be extremely difficult to achieve, you may want to reconsider it.

Relevant:Your goal should be relevant to you and your life right now. Is it something that will actually make a positive difference in your life? If it’s a worthwhile cause and something you feel strongly about, it will be easier to maintain the motivation to stick with it.

Timely:Goals need deadlines, or they don’t happen. Set a deadline for yourself. For example, by June 1, 2019, I’ll be able to ride a unicycle. (A worthwhile goal indeed… 😉 )

So as you’re considering your goals for 2019, make sure they are SMART goals.

3) Find a buddy.

You are much more likely to stick with a goal if you have someone to be accountable to.

4) Turn your resolution into a habit.

This tip might be the most important one…If you can create a habit around the goal you’re trying to achieve, you’ll be much more likely to stick with it.

For example, if your goal is to exercise at least four times a week, make it a habit to set your workout clothes out each night and go to bed by 10:30 pm, so you can wake up to workout before work. Once this becomes a habit, your goal of exercising four times a week will become just part of your lifestyle rather than a chore that you have to try and remember to fit in each day.

5) And lastly, don’t beat yourself up!

Some people do really well sticking to goals, and others have a really hard time with it. Remember we’re all human, and it’s ok to slip up.

Some people really love making new goals and resolutions at the start of the new year, and others, not so much. Maybe instead of a resolution, you prefer to focus on a mantra or saying. I did that one year, and really liked it. My mantra was “Be Positive,” and I focused on creating more positivity in my life for that entire year.

Resolutions don’t have to be traditional. Get creative and do what works for you!